


Gonna Need Some Help To Fix This Mess I Made

by Swords_And_Serpents



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Caretaking, F/M, Fluff, Homeless Jughead Jones, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 13:13:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17829215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swords_And_Serpents/pseuds/Swords_And_Serpents
Summary: Jughead is sick and is not having a good timeAKA: Im not good at summaries





	Gonna Need Some Help To Fix This Mess I Made

It was a cold and snowy month in Riverdale. Granted it always felt like this but in November the wind whistled and a layer of frost was left on the grass. This snowfall wouldn't be a problem for anyone else in Riverdale. Bundling up in scarves and mittens when out and about and central heating, hot tea and blankets when hibernating indoors. However, Jughead was not one of those lucky souls. Jughead was homeless. Although he had layers on underneath his sherpa jacket and wore that stupid crown cap, he still couldn't seep off the chill of the cold air that surrounded him. The wind blew in his face like he was being stabbed with an icy dagger. As the wind picked up so did the snow fluttering down in front of his eyes, landing on his nose, soaking his skin, making him feel like he took a swim in the frozen Sweet Water River. It was late and the streets were turning dark.

Jughead thought about going someplace to warm himself up before having to find himself shelter for the night. He could have tried breaking into the school. Even on the weekends the janitor fails to lock the window to the first floor science lab, that was usually how he gets in but his fingers were numb with the bitter cold. He doubted he could open the window with his freezing hands. He briefly thought about going to Pop's, it's open 24-hours and he can get food and if Pop was feeling generous he would let Jughead sleep there. However during Riverdale's harsh storms he always noticed the amount of people who have been milling around in the town suddenly rush in the diner for shelter. So he realised it would be hard to not be squashed like a sardine in there and rest there for the night without going noticed. As the snow fell thicker he realised he had to make a decision soon. _I guess a cold, wet alley it is then. ___He thought to himself as his body started to be overcome with shivers.

Moments later he found a place to rest, he threw his spare jacket over himself to use as a makeshift blanket, whilst his actual blanket and sleeping bag remained in the cupboard under the stairs. He curled into himself trying to keep in as much body heat as possible as he wished for sleep. His teeth started to chatter and his nose was running with his constant sniffling. He never thought he would get to sleep but he eventually fell into a dreamless slumber.

That was until he woke up sometime during the middle of the night when his body started to violently shiver. As his eyes slowly started to adjust to hiss surroundings, he managed to see snow settled over him like someone poured a bag of flour all over him. Jughead's body ached with shivers from the snow, or maybe it was from an upcoming illness. But he couldn't take that chance to get sick, he didn't have the money to pay for medicine. He scavenged around for his phone in his bag, he unlocked his phone with shaking hands and went into his contacts. His finger lingered over the call button next to Betty's name, he needed help and she would be the only one willing to help him. But he couldn't help but feel like a burden if he did ask her for help. He couldn't let her know about his homelessness, so he opted not to call her and tried to get back to sleep. When he woke up next at a more reasonable time he decided he should head of to school so he could get a change of clothes and take a shower which could hopefully get rid of the chill that he can't seem to shake off. 

Slowly he made the trek to school, his body felt frostbitten and ached with every movement and he couldn't help but cough into the crook of his elbow often. When he finally got there he sighed in relief to find that the back entrance was unlocked which meant he didn't have to fumble with the window like usual. Jughead made his way through the halls, grateful for the heating to be on and he could feel his fingers tingle as they grew warm. He made his way to his make-shift home and got his cleanest clothes. Sadly he looked at the time and realised that he wouldn't have time for a shower and to clean up afterwards, he also felt to tired to do anything but sleep so he decided the quicker he got changed the quicker he could go to the Blue & Gold and get in a quick nap before Betty got here. However when he got there he realised the unfinished document waiting on his laptop for his newspaper assignment Betty gave him and decided he should finish it before she got mad at him. He didn't want her to be mad at him.

As he wrote on his laptop his eyes drooped with exhaustion and sickness. He was thinking it as a big mistake to come into school today and should have just stayed in the alley and wait for this sickness to kill him because he felt like he was dying with a headache now blooming behind his eyes. All of a sudden Betty burst through the door bringing her sunshine to brighten the gloomy day, unknowingly making Jughead feel only slightly better in the process. "Good morning Juggie!" she beamed. However, she could notice that something was plaguing him -- Unbeknownst to her it was most likely the actual plague -- And to make him feel better she came over and kissed him, lightening his mood for a second before his sickness began to seep through her aura. "Are you feeling okay Jughead?" Pulling away after the kiss,"Of course Betts, It's just the morning and i haven't had my coffee yet." He grumbled without meaning to, his scratchy throat causing his voice to be more coarse and rough like sandpaper. She laughed and left it at that. Jughead mentally sighed getting back to work the words on the screen swirling and dancing on his screen. He blinked to hopefully make it stop but only increased his dizziness which made him flop back in his chair and huff out a sigh.

The sigh ended up catching in his throat and couldn't stop the onslaught of coughs that happened next, hacking into his elbow to help displace the phlegm that was blocking his airway. Betty came up to him patting and rubbing his back trying to comfort him before he finally stopped and only then did she realise how terrible he looked. He was pale as the snow on the ground this morning which accentuated the dark bags under his eyes. The only bit of colour on his face being from fever flush. "Juggie, are you sick?" She asked, cupping his cheeks feeling the heat radiate off of him., "Maybe a little." He said shyly before coughing gently into his elbow. "Why didn't you stay home if you were feeling so unwell?." Jughead suddenly went stiff. "I don't-"  
"You don't what Juggie?"  
"I don't have a home." He choked out

"What?" Betty whispered confusedly. Her breath taken away from this unbearable news. "I don't have a home Betty, i'm homeless."  
"Wha- why Juggie?" She sounded sad, almost disappointed in him. At least that what it sounded like to him. He couldn't disappoint everyone in his life everyone was disappointed in him. His mother, his father, Archie and now Betty. "I'm sorry." He sobbed "oh Juggie don't feel sorry. We can talk about this later but right now my main priority is taking care of you." She helped him up as they made their way out of the school and over to her house.

"You don't have to do this for me Betts." Said Jughead who was currently bundled up in Betty's bed, his face flushed and nose running. "It's no problem Juggie, i love taking care of you." sitting down next to him with a thermometer to take his temperature, waiting until it beeped. "Your warm, but not _too_ warm. You should be alright after some proper care." Jughead's heart twinged at the fact that he ended up like this because of the lack of proper care. "Im sorry Betty." He mumbled.  
"Don't be sorry Jug, now you rest up and i'll get you some soup okay?" She said kissing his cheek. Jughead could only imagine hat would happen after he told Betty everything. Those beautiful green eyes glossed with tears as she left him, just like everybody else.

"Hey Juggie, i'm back with your soup." She smiled setting it down on the bedside table when she noticed her boyfriends fallen face. "What's wrong? Apart from being sick. And the other thing." She frowned. "I'm homeless, because of my dad, after my mom left he started drinking. Getting angry. He would-he would hurt me Betty, to the point where i couldn't live there anymore. So i left. But then there was the problem of having nowhere to go. I can't go to Archie's things are too awkward between us right now and hell i don't think i even class as being one of Veronica's friends." He chuckled bitterly  
"You could of always come to me Jughead you know that right?"  
"I know i could of but i hated the fact of being a burden to you when you was dealing with all the stuff with Polly and still are."  
"No matter what Cooper family drama is going down you know you will always matter more than that okay?" She said gently as she wrapped him in a comforting hug. "Okay."  
"Good now lets get you patched up." Grabbing the bowl of soup and starting to feed it to him.

"What will you tell your mom when she sees me here?"  
"i'll tell her that you matter to me the most."


End file.
